Where can I get Star Diagnostic? Is this any good?

Mounis

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Hi All,

Quick question for the gurus...

essentially is this any good?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-MERCEDES-...in_3?hash=item27aad43c1d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

I'm relatively ok with mechanics on my car but seem to stumble with electrical issues on my mercs....so am thinking of picking up star....

Does anyone have star or would recommend a source for a system?

Apologies if this has been asked before...

Kind regards
Mounis
 

SQ_W211

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Its definately worth it but wait for soem more responses from people who own STAR as they can advise where to get it from as you need to know that the source is reliable
 

whitenemesis

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STAR is a powerful tool, you could completely trash your car!! It takes much experience to use effectively. Plus it evolves continuously, so any non MB approved source could lead to problems.

Genuine STAR runs to thousands and there is a yearly subscription to keep it current.
 

rf065

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If you read the whole advert, you may have to buy a new lap top too.

"T30 is NOT included in this auction! Please prepare it by yourself.This Diagnostic Tool is specially designed for IBM T30 with COM port which can get best compatibility with those softwares, NOT any laptop can do this !"

Russ
 

jibcl500

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Ive bought Star from Ebay after speaking with SAM_UNIT, I was considering buying and SAM recommend a seller off ebay and at £500 it is the business but you will need to buy and IBM T30 laptop, the hard drive supplied just plugs in and your away.
I did have Carsoft which was good but star is something different and if you not sure about what your doing you could easily wreck a car!!! some of the coding if lost by mistake can only be supplied by mercedes but on the basis they have your car, also you could write off individual control units.

jib
 
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Mounis

Mounis

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Thanks for responses! Lucky I already have a T30 lying around! yay!
 

Alex Crow

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when buying from ebay pay very careful to attention to the sellers feedback. make sure they have sold several of the same product and received favourable feedback etc etc. i know that many people will be perfectly well aware of all the obvious ebay tricks and deceits, but look before you leap! also make sure you are buying the newest version of das+wis you can find. i think nowadays the epc needs internet download but the disks and instructions to illegally do this are cheaply available. also be aware that these das and wis versions are theft of intellectual property or some such thing.
 
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Mounis

Mounis

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GRRRR - Wish I could buy it legit...

Thanks for your feedback - I note what you're saying about theft of intellectual property rights etc... I'm not averse to spending money, even up to £750 for a legit functional system...

I just find it frustrating that when you go to anyone (Main dealer or indy who knows what they are talking about) you get charged silly rates for something that I know I could do myself, for next to nothing...

Dont get me wrong, dealers and indys need to make money back from their own investments and the customer should pay for the provided service... I don't see myself that way though...Dad was a master technicial for Jag for many years and over the years I've picked up loads off him.

I know for a fact that no one looks after my cars better than me. Ive had experiences with VW, Vauxhall, Honda, Kawasaki, Mercedes, sometimes excellent but mostly shoddy...

I've worked for a large organisation and used to have a company car for 7 years, fully maintained....and although the cost factor was never an issue it was always annoying to find the likes of VW replacing disks and pads all round during a basic service when the car didnt need anything. (great for me as a driver, great for the dealer, not so good for leaseplan)

Kawasaki, (I have a bike too), regular service, oil and filters and (alleged) recalibration of carb/intakes etc... I popped some tape & tippex on certain parts of fairing/carb to see of work was done.... I got charged for it all but nothing and I mean nothing got done...

I suspect that as it was still brand new, 4k miles, and in immaculate condition (shes my baby) they thought "wahey, we can make a monkey out of this mug"

Honda, battery drain problem, apparently replacement of battery with new one but to me it looked like the old unit, then on second return a used battery (prob out of some other customers car was popped in as the terminals had old marks on there from previous clamping). Resolved my problem but I'm sure generated more revenue for Honda.

Not such a bad experience with Mercedes but sometimes you feel annoyed as something simple like a fault code has popped up, and just to erase it you pay £100 for them to connect star up.

The charge by the hour for diagnostics but will reduce it to 1/2 hr segments if its done quicker. Great!!! but sometimes when a service dept charges you for an hour labour and makes you sit for an hour and fourty five mins to reset a brake warning error off the dash you feel terrible...especially when you've snuck round the back of the building a few times and seen your car sitting in the bay with the bonnet up and no one around it all....

I'm really not fussed too much about the advanced capabilities of Star - just average stuff that you want to be able to do yourself on a day to day basis...

I have looked at other systems but they seem not to be able to pick up some faults.

My local mechanic who I get on great with has a snap on ethos unit. Looks pretty detailed and he lets me have a bash too... Shame that it just doesnt pick up any fault codes... (Even my MAF needs replacing but it it says everything is all ok)
 

Alex Crow

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£750 will not buy a legit functioning system!! i think star costs thousands to lease/buy/whatever from MB, and i mean many thousands. pretty much all the star systems you will find for sale are illegal copies of the real thing. in my day job i use star many times a day, we bought it from a legit uk based, vat registered diagnostics sales company, but it is still illegal.

the snap-on gear promises much but fails to deliver time and time again, i know a few garages that have invested large sums in this kit and no-one is happy with it
 
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Mounis

Mounis

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Lol @ £750

I kinda gathered £750 wouldnt buy anything really....wishful thinking I guess...
 

Alex Crow

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sorry if i'm not being clear, your ebay £500 star machine will easily do the trick.

i can't comment on that particular seller, but ebay is the place to buy a cheap das+wis copy. and that's cheap as in inexpensive, not cheap and nasty.

if you can spare the money the machine will satisfy all your workshop information and module communication needs - a very powerful machine indeed. but think of it like a pirate dvd, same film as the genuine article, but stolen content.
 
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Mounis

Mounis

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Any other thoughts guys?
 

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Many buy these things,,just take care when using it.

I am getting one shortly
 

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